Effect of gum tragacanth-sodium alginate coatings incorporated with epigallocatechin gallate on the quality and shelf life of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) during superchilling storage

Abstract The effect of gum tragacanth (GT) and sodium alginate (SA) active coatings incorporated with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG, 0.16%, 0.32% and 0.64%, respectively) on the quality of large yellow croaker fillets was evaluated during superchilling storage at -3 ℃ for 42 days. The results revealed that the GT-SA-EGCG active coatings delayed the microbial spoilage via reducing the numbers of total viable counts, Pseudomonas spp. and psychrophiles bacteria, retarded degradation of the physical properties of water holding capacity, cooking loss, color, odor and texture. GT-SA-EGCG coatings could also maintain the fillets’ freshness by keeping lower total volatile basic nitrogen, K value and histidine content, inhibiting myofibrillar protein degradation during superchilling storage. These results suggested that the active coatings embedded with GT-SA-EGCG could be used as a preservative to enhance the quality of large yellow croaker and prolong the shelf life by 7-14 days during superchilling storage at -3 ℃.